THE CHINESE CRESTED DOG. 263 



term) inexpensive "plant" keeps a wife and children easily. We know personally 

 one blue grizzled dog of the old truffle breed which supports a family of ten 

 children. 



The truffle dog is a delicate animal to rear, and a choice feeder. Being con- 

 tinually propagated from one stock, he has become peculiarly susceptible of all 

 dog diseases, and when that fatal year com.es round which desolates the kennel 

 in his quarter, many truffle hunters are left destitute of dogs, and consequently 

 short of bread ; for they will not believe (as we believe) that any dog with a keen 

 nose and lively temper can be taught to hunt and find truffles. 



The education of the dog commences when he is about three months old. 

 At first he is taught to fetch a truffle, and when he does this well and cheerfully 

 his master places it on the ground, and slightly covers it with earth, selecting 

 one of peculiar fragrance for the purpose. As the dog becomes more expert 

 and keen for the amusement, he buries the truffle deeper, and rewards him in 

 proportion to his progress. He then takes him where he knows truffles to be 

 abundant, or where they have been previously found by a well-broken animal, 

 and marked. Thus he gradually learns his trade, and becomes (as his forefathers 

 have been for many generations) the bread-winner for his master and his master's 

 family ; unless he is so fortunate as to become attache to some lordly mansion, 

 or possibly to a royal palace, in which case he is a fortunate dog indeed. 



The supply of truffles is uncertain, and the price varies from tenpence to 

 thirty shillings a pound. 



In the summer months we have found them, not with a dog, for at this 

 season they have little smell, but from a peculiar cracking of the ground. We 

 have more than once marked the place with a stick, and examined the specimen 

 from time to time. On one occasion we left a truffle from July to November, 

 and could discover no perceptible alteration in its size. Frost destroys those 

 exposed to its influence, and the very old, or very large, or frosted truffles are 

 frequently infested by small brown insects. We have given the result of our 

 inquiries and experience. We must refer our readers for further information to 

 a work of which we have heard, although we have not been able to procure it, 

 " Badham's Esculent Fungi." 



THE CHINESE CEESTED DOG. 



The Chinese edible dog has been long well known in this country as a curiosity, 

 but the variety fui-nished with a crest and tufted tail is by no means common. 

 Like the ordinary breed, it is quite hairless on the body and limbs, save only 

 a few scattered and isolated hairs (about a dozen or eighteen on the whole surface) ; 

 hence the thick tufts on the two extremities are the more remarkable. The skin is 

 spotted, as shown in the engraving. 



The individual from which our illustration was taken was the only one remaining 

 of a litter of six, born from parents imported direct from China, both of which 



